Meeting Andy Burnham: Charmer with Celebrity Connections

It was the summer of 2010 and, weeks after Labour had been booted from power, fever was sweeping Britain.

And in ’s sprawling Westminster office, where I had gone to interview him about a very different talent contest – he was poised to enter the race to replace Gordon Brown as Labour leader – there was one thing on his mind: X Factor judge Cheryl Cole.

‘Cheryl is gorgeous isn’t she,’ he told me, a glint in his eye, when I asked him whether he was backing Cheryl or her rival judge, , on the hit show.

‘I’d choose her over Dannii any day. She is beautiful and so down to earth.’

Shaking his head at the indiscretions of Cheryl’s ex-husband, former footballer Ashley Cole, Andy added: ‘I do not know how [he] could have cheated on her.’

It was an odd conversation to be having with the man who, even 16 years ago, clearly had lofty ambitions. The keys to No10 then must have seemed like a distant dream.

But that day, as I interviewed the then-shadow health secretary for a tabloid newspaper, one thing was very clear. Andy was surprisingly keen to come across as a ladies’ man and was brimming with self-confidence. He even invited me to inspect his eyelashes (more of which later).

Leaning back into his green sofa and placing his hands behind his head, he boasted about his former flames – and how this colourful history had started to affect his political career.

‘I had lots of girlfriends when I was younger, I was pretty popular,’ he gloated. ‘It is becoming quite difficult now as when I go canvassing in my constituency, ex-girlfriends of mine from when I was younger open the door.

‘It’s very strange feeling to think, “Oh I used to kiss her.”’

One former girlfriend, he confided, even turned up at his constituency office. ‘It brought back a few memories,’ he winked.

At the time, Andy was keen to present himself as a personable, as well as capable, politician to win over the Labour Party, which by then had been swept from power. In the leadership race, he was up against Ed and David Miliband, Ed Balls and Diane Abbott.

None of them could claim to be the ‘Make-Up Minister’ – a nickname he’d coined himself owing to his lengthy eyelashes. But were they adorned with mascara, as many claimed?

He told me to examine them a little more closely. It definitely looked to me as if he was familiar with the Maybelline counter.

And then came the name-dropping of his celebrity chums.

Last week many were surprised when Burnham chose to be interviewed by former Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker rather than a political heavyweight.

But I wasn’t. Because that day in 2010, Andy made it clear he loved a celeb. He boasted he was close to David Beckham and Simon Cowell, and called Wayne Rooney a ‘pal’.

I’m told Andy is still known as a celebrity ‘hanger-on’ today. He recently campaigned with actors Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan – both leading figures in campaign group Hacked Off, which aims to impose restrictions on the Press – while football pundits Jamie Carragher (who donated money to his 2010 campaign) and Gary Neville are friends.

He’s said to be keen to ‘be in with’ Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, and knows Elbow’s Guy Garvey, whose song One Day Like This was the soundtrack to a video to promote his Makerfield by-election push. 

He’s also said to get on well with New Order, and got permission to use their hit True Faith at the end of his first speech as Labour leader on Friday. They likely did not give permission for the cringeworthy dance moves.

Talking of dancing, in 2010 Andy couldn’t wait to describe his past as a party animal at Manchester’s Hacienda nightclub. He was dying to come across as cool but not so edgy that it would affect his career. 

When I’d asked if he had ever had a taste for drugs, he said he’d gone there for the ‘music and alcohol’, adding: ‘I was never the most sober at the party.’

After he lost his bid to become Labour leader to Ed Miliband, he invited me for a coffee at Westminster. There he gave me a scoop – he was planning Ed’s stag do.

Claiming that – without him – the groom-to-be would likely opt for an evening of Scrabble, Andy was planning a pub crawl along the Circle Line, a game where drinkers visit pubs near each of the 27 stations on the Underground line.

Whether it went ahead I never found out, although Andy mused that Ed ‘seemed a bit hesitant’.

Today, with Andy in charge of a whole load more than just a stag do, I imagine the feeling remains.